With all the glowing reviews for the 2011 V6,, this one surprised and kind of disturbed me. What do you make of it?

http://www.insideline.com/ford/musta...and-video.html

 

We all have biases, maybe? And his is toward V8's.

Only thing I take away from that review is the picture of the car in Kona.



Why can't Kona look like that ALL the time?

 

I don't see this as a "bad" review. They're just putting it in perspective. You do have to rev the V6 to get it moving, but it's not something most people do day in and day out.

I thought that review was fair. Anyone else?

 

I thought it was a good honest review as well. But as one commenter pointed out, it is odd that they played up the 2010 Camaro V6 so much and then were markedly less impressed by the V6 Mustang even though it clearly out performs the Camaro in every aspect.

 

I like reviews with the word "crack" in them.

 

I think everyone saw the 305 horses and thought it would perform like a V8 with 304 horses or similar to the 2010 GT. Horsepower isn't everything! Seemed fair to me, its a good V6 - but no GT!!!

 

doesn't really say anything that people who know the difference between a v8 and a v6 don't know: torque!

what about all the other cars that have high output 6's and turbo 4's? gotta wring the hell out of them to go fast too

they drove it around the way they did because they don't own it
if you did you would have a ragged-out car in 10k miles

i'm not going to drive my GT around like an a-hole all the time either, sometimes i may be in the wrong gear at the wrong time because i'm just cruising

i ride a liter-class sportbike that has power everywhere because of it's torque and before that had a 600cc sportbike, the smaller engined bike was wicked fast but needed to be up in the rpm range for real power - nothing wrong with that

 

I wonder how this car will respond to a gear change, say 3.73's?

 

I don't think its negative. Its his opinion. Just imagine how gutless the V6 Camaro and Challenger would compare for him. less HP, less TQ and 300-500 more pounds to carry around.....

 

I don't know about anyone else, but this new mindset of these V6's performing like modern V8s is a farce. They might perform like older V8s, but with better fuel economy (which they point out in the review, with the exception of torque), and that's fine. I don't want a V6 to come close to a 2011 GT in terms of performance, and I'm glad Ford didn't put them that close.

I think with a good tune to fatten up that torque curve and some minor suspension work, a V6 would be a good blend between daily driver and weekend track car. That is, unless you are a true muscle/pony car purist and have to get the V8.

 

The article just emphasizes that horsepower isn't everything. Torque is what you feel (and that's why gears make a car feel so much quicker) and horsepower is what you sell. A guy who buys a V6 should expect it to be a V6...if you really want acceleration, go with the GT. That doesn't mean this isn't a great car though, just enjoy it for yourself and don't worry about what other reviews have to say (good or bad). Others' approval of your car doesn't make it any more or less enjoyable.

 

i think it was intended to put things in prospective. and to give his take on it.

However i do feel there will be quite a few ppl that are considering an 11 v6 when they drive it may think...Heck i think ill just get a 2010 gt for the same price or a little more.

 

When this review first came out I noticed the writer stating the obvious.
"It's just not the Holy Grail of Mustangs"
"The 2011 Ford Mustang V6 is not slow"
"Wind it out to seven grand on every shift, pound gears through the six speeds and you can have a blast with this car"
I think his biggest problem was he tried to drive it like an old Ford 6 and was afraid to keep the revs up where they belonged for this car.
"But this Mustang doesn't make any real power until 3,000 rpm. That means it's easy to get caught up in 3rd gear when you should be in 2nd. You carpet the throttle to squirt the Mustang into that hole between the bus and the concrete truck and nothing happens. A few seconds later the tach hits 3,000 rpm and the fun begins, but by that time the door has closed."
This idiot needs to learn how to downshift on a high rev engine.

 

"It's just not the Holy Grail of Mustangs, despite the hype." True, but who would have thought this to be the case anyhow?

 

Not a bad review, just stating facts.

What i liked is they claim a real world 26 MPG on the highway ... this with the PP's 3.31's gears and 255 wide Summer tires is pretty darn good !!

I should then easily be able to get the EPA 29 MPG or better with the 2.73's and 235 wide A/S P-Zero's ... was concerned that the P-Zero's could take 1 or 2 MPG away when compared to the std 17" 225 wide rubber.

Doug

 

I think they summed up the V6 fairly. It's a huge improvement over previous V6's, but it is still a V6 (with the lack of torque that us V8 guys can't live without).

That said, I fully expect to see a higher percentage of 2011 Mustangs sold as V6's than in the last few model years. It's a good performer at a great price, while the 2011 GT is an awesome performer at an okay (borderline spendy) price.

 

The part I thought was funny was how he kept qualifying the fuel economy ratings by saying you won't get those numbers if you drive it near redline. Wow, that's new! It's almost like the EPA was driving the V6 Mustang slowly in their mileage test! As we all now, the EPA normally does MPG tests by driving like they are auditioning for the next Fast and Furious movie.

 

I think it was an ok review, i thought he spent way too much time reminding everyone that this car had to be rung out to see the power numbers and the star rating he gave compared to the v6 camaro in which he slammed the interior (rightly so) i thought was a little off.

 

This reviewer is just biased for V8s. I don't care what kind of torque the V6 has, at 0-60 if it's less than a car length away from the 5.0 V8, it's got something powerful. Plenty powerful enough for most people. I have a feeling the deeper sound of the V8 fools some people like this reviewer. Just because the V6 doesn't sound as mean as the V8, he says the V6 lacks torque. I can't wait to drive a V6 2011. I bet it's a super nice car and will probably keep up with my 2008 GT/CS. It may not be the holy grail of Mustangs but, I bet it's the holy grail of V6 Mustangs, and that's what he was reviewing and should have said.

 

That's what I was saying in an earlier thread, 3.31's in a car that has a 7k rpm redline needs more gear. This car is almost at the level that SN95 4.6 DOHC cobras were at when it comes to hp and not that far off on torque. People were putting 4.10's in the car, let alone 3.73's.

Dave